Hunger, Malnutrition and Millennium Development Goals: What Can Be Done?

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Abstract

Malnutrition causes a great deal of human suffering, and it is a violation of a child’s human rights. Even today 46 per cent of all children in the country continue to be underweight and a very high proportion of women suffer from anaemia, India is one of the countries with the highest proportion of malnourished children in the world, along with Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Nepal. In spite of its remarkable economic growth in the past decade, India’s progress in reducing child malnutrition has been excessively slow. The care of young children cannot be left to the family alone – it is also a social responsibility. United Nations agreed to work toward eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—specific, measurable targets to be met by 2015 that will make definite improvements in the lives of the world’s poor and hungry people. Without appropriate policy interventions, the hope of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is bleak. This is because adequate nutrition is a fundamental requirement for children healthy living and development. The present study carried out with three objectives in view; to examine the current trends and determinants of hunger and malnutrition among children in India, to examine the progress regarding some health and nutrition related MDGs and to suggest the cross-cutting strategic approaches to reducing hunger and malnutrition .The main findings of this study, under-five Children are nutritionally the most vulnerable and series of interrelated factors of hunger and malnutrition from rooted in poverty, including a lack of access to food, health care, safe water, sanitation services, and appropriate child feeding and caring practices. This paper argues for cross-cutting strategies for their nutritional needs, even though there is a close relationship between health, growth, nutrition and development in this age group and these dimensions need to be considered holistically.

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